If you’re running a hair and beauty salon then there can be lot of overheads. From rent and utility bills to wages, equipment and stock, the costs seem to come from every angle. Then of course there’s salon insurance.
Though certain aspects of your salon insurance might appear to be no-brainers – insuring your property against fire or other damage, insuring your equipment against theft – there’s another type of salon insurance that you might have overlooked, but which could mean the difference between business as usual and catastrophe: public liability insurance.
Reasons for getting public liability insurance
Public liability insurance is recommended for any business that has direct dealings with the general public, but for salons it should be viewed as being particularly important. Let’s take a quick look at what the major risks are for which a hair and beauty salon might need public liability cover.
Trips, slips and other accidents – Because you are having people enter and spend time on your premises every day throughout the day, there is a higher percentage risk of someone experiencing an accident there than would be the case in an office for example that only had rare visits from the public. Add to this the fact that you’ve got various lotions, shampoos and other liquids on the premises, and cables trailing from electrical devices, and the potential for an accident is heightened.
Harm or loss caused by salon equipment – There is always a risk that your electrical equipment, such as hair straighteners or blow driers, could malfunction and cause injury to one of your customers.
Psychological damage – In this increasingly litigious world, it is not outside of the realms of possibility for a customer to sue you because a haircut gone awry or another form of beauty treatment has turned them into a target for ridicule or otherwise caused them distress.
Public liability insurance is important because it can protect you against claims for compensation made against you in any of these situations. If a customer takes you to court and sues you over an injury they suffered as a result of falling over on your floor for example, it will be your insurance that pays out the damages, rather than you from your own pocket or from money that you were planning on reinvesting into the business.
In extreme examples, in which a customer is seriously injured or disfigured as a result of your action or inaction, having public liability insurance can mean the difference between carrying on with business as usual or going bankrupt due to the amount of compensation that you are forced to pay out.
Employer’s liability insurance
As well as having public liability cover as part of your salon insurance, if you have one or more employees you must also by law have an adequate level of employer’s liability insurance. As well being mandatory according to the government Health and Safety Executive’s regulations though, employer’s liability insurance will also protect your business in the event that one of your employees attempts to sue you for allegedly causing them injury or loss.
If you want to find out more about public liability insurance or any other aspect of salon insurance, get in touch with Park Insurance. We’ve got more than 20 years of experience in finding the best and most suitable insurance deals for specialist businesses of all kinds and sizes.